National news in brief, 3/20

RICHMOND — The U.S. government is abandoning a legal battle to require that cigarette packs carry a set of large and often macabre warning labels depicting the dangers of smoking and encouraging smokers to quit.

Instead, the Food and Drug Administration will go back to the drawing board and create labels to replace those that included images of diseased lungs and the sewn-up corpse of a smoker, according to a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder obtained by The Associated Press.

The government had until Monday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision upholding a ruling that the requirement violated First Amendment free speech protections.

Michigan

Grandmother found guilty of murder

PONTIAC — A suburban Detroit grandmother was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder for killing her teenage grandson last spring, as jurors rejected her claim that she shot him six times in self-defense.

Sandra Layne, 75, cried quietly when she heard the verdict, which was delivered during the first full day of jury deliberations. She was also convicted of using a firearm during a felony and likely faces at least 14 years in prison.

Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota said after the hearing that Layne was "devastated" by the verdict.

But Jonathan Hoffman's mother, Jennifer Hoffman, said her mother is a "monster" who deserves to go to prison.

Missouri

Sheriff: Missing mom faked disappearance

KANSAS CITY — To law enforcement agencies, the disappearance of a Missouri woman and her young daughter for four days had all the markings of an abduction: a cryptic text message asking for help, a phone call that sounded like it was being read from a script, an ex-husband with a history of domestic violence.

Instead, Rachel Koechner told investigators Monday night that she slipped away with Devon Sandner, the ex-husband who's the father of her 4-year-old daughter, last week as part of a plan she devised a day earlier.

Koechner, Sandner and their child were found Monday in a home in Linn County about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City after someone saw them getting gas in nearby Brookfield and called police.

District of Columbia

Lawmakers' ethics investigated

WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it is forming a special panel to investigate whether Alaska Rep. Don Young failed to report gifts on his annual disclosure forms, misused campaign funds and lied to federal officials. The committee also announced a separate special panel will examine whether New Jersey Rep. Rob Andrews broke House rules by using campaign funds for personal travel.